Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:RYAAY) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $73.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ryanair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ryanair in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ryanair from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ryanair in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd.

Ryanair Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RYAAY opened at $68.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ryanair has a 1-year low of $38.52 and a 1-year high of $74.24.

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The transportation company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Ryanair had a return on equity of 29.76% and a net margin of 15.04%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ryanair will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryanair Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $0.4545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Ryanair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryanair

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RYAAY. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Ryanair by 645,657.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,789,672 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,386,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789,240 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Ryanair by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 30,738,934 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,851,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,911 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Ryanair by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,465,187 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,250,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,457 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ryanair by 658.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,041,000 after purchasing an additional 861,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ryanair by 23.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,800,393 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $161,499,000 after purchasing an additional 539,256 shares during the period. 43.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings plc is an Irish low-cost airline group headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1984, the company grew into one of Europe’s largest budget carriers by offering point-to-point scheduled passenger services with an emphasis on low fares, high aircraft utilization and rapid turnaround times. Ryanair serves a broad network across Europe and nearby regions, focusing on both intra-European leisure travel and short-haul business routes.

The group primarily operates a single-type fleet based on the Boeing 737 family, supplemented by a mix of in-house and subsidiary airlines that help serve different markets and regulatory environments.